Gamblers 30 Gunslingers 13
Tony Dean completed 26/35, 309 yards and 3 TDs and was sacked once. That's not normally newsworthy but Dean was injured on the sack and left the game for a good chunk of the next drive, though he would return and throw a TD pass. San Antonio hung around in the first half, trailing just 20-13, but QB Robert Fanelli threw 2 INTs in the second half and the Gunslingers turned it over on downs as Houston pulled away in the 4th quarter for the win. WR Hugh Chance had 5 catches for 115 yards and a TD while RBs Donald Turner (112 yards) and Lloyd Ellis (102) both had over 100 combined yards.
Federals 27 Bell 13
Philadelphia out gained Washington 369-299 and the Bell scored first on a short Richard Cooper run for an early 7-0 lead. Scott Bieber would tie the game with an 11 yard pass to Ronald Matthews. Steve Matthews then made a FG for Philadelphia to reclaim the lead but Bieber found his Matthews again, this score covering 68 yards as the Federals took a 14-10 lead into halftime. Bieber threw his 3rd TD of the game to Robert Trammell in the 3rd qtr but Philadelphia cut the lead to 8 with another FG. The Bell had a chance to cut the lead to 5 but Matthews missed a FG and Philadelphia turned it over on downs the next 3 drives, allowing the Federals short fields with which they added a pair of FGs and the win.
SaberCats 55 Hawaiians 17
San Jose just put the league on notice: they are for real. The SaberCats amassed 759 yards today and have now scored 121 points the last 2 weeks, more than all but 4 teams have scored all season. QB Jake Plummer completed 28/34, 557 yards and 6 TDs, with WR Dave McEntee leading the receivers, catching 9 for 189 yards and 3 TDs. Mark Hsu caught 4 for 125 and a TD while RB Rodney Richardson had a monster game, rushing 12 times for 162 yards and a TD, adding 80 yards and another TD on 2 receptions. Honolulu benched QB Derek Henry for this game, opting for 10 year vet Edwin Clarkson, but they could have had vintage Mario Valencia today and it wouldn't matter the way Plummer carved up their D.
Renegades 31 Stallions 9
Birmingham out gained Orlando, had more red zone trips, and they scored first for an early 3-0 lead. That's where the good news ends though, as 4 Stallions red zone trips netted 6 points, they committed 10 penalties and QB Willie Benge tossed 4 INTs. Orlando rookie RB Anthony Milan has taken over as the RB1 and he responded with 123 rushing yards and a TD. Fellow RB Jose Rush had 51 rushing yards and a TD, and led the Renegades in receiving yards with 78, catching a TD as well. QB Trey Lyons didn't throw for a ton of yards as Orlando had a balanced offense today, but the important numbers are 2 TDs and 0 INTs.
Storm 27 Wranglers 10
The upstart Arizona Wranglers faced their toughest test so far this season against Portland, and the game was a defensive struggle early. Arizona scored first on a FG, taking advantage of the short field following an interception of Portland QB Melvin Driggers. That was one of just 8 combined "incompletions" on the day as Arizona's Brian Carmichael finished 23/26, 155 yards and a TD while Driggers was 25/30, 335 yards, 3 TD and that INT. That early lead was as good as it got for Arizona as Portland's defense forced punt after punt while the offense found it's groove, scoring on 4 straight possessions in the 2nd/3rd quarters to put the game away with a 27-0 run.
Panthers 24 Showboats 21 (OT)
Michigan outlasted Memphis in a mistake filled game that took extra time to decide. Michigan QB Larry Henderson completed 32/42, 362 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, and his first TD gave the Panthers an early 7-0 lead. Memphis QB Norman Maldonado threw the first of his 4 INTs on the next drive but Michigan missed a FG so the score remained the same. Memphis then scored 14 straight points on a Steve Ransome 4 yard run and a Maldonado 18 yard pass to Justin Dixon. Larry Henderson's 2nd TD pass tied the game at 14, and that was our score until the 4th quarter. Memphis was driving for a score early in the 4th, when this crazy play happened. Maldonado throws an INT in the end zone, but for some reason Miguel Lamar tried to run it out and fumbled. RB Erik McNamee knocked the ball loose and fell on it in the end zone for a TD and a 21-14 Showboats lead. Lamar intercepted another pass to help set up Larry Henderson's 3rd TD pass which tied the game at 21. As the end of regulation wound down, the mistakes continued for both sides. Henderson was sacked and lost a fumble, setting up Memphis at the Panthers 33. On the next play, Maldonado tossed INT #4, and it was Lamar doing the honors again, his 3rd of the game. The clock ran out in regulation and Michigan got a FG on their first drive of OT. Memphis had a chance to tie, but had to attempt a 59 yard FG to do it and it was short, giving Michigan the victory.
Bandits 22 VooDoo 21
New Orleans is having a tough year and today they suffer their 3rd one score loss on the season in 4 games. I have a team in GM II that is also 0-4 with 4 one score losses so I can relate, especially the dumb ways my Cows have lost. This is the USFL blog though, so I'll focus on the VooDoo. New Orleans got a pair of Joseph Jones TD passes in the first half and enjoyed a 21-6 lead at the break. Tampa Bay chipped away at the lead with a 3rd qtr FG and an Antonio Martinez TD pass in the 4th to pull within 21-16. Three punts later, Tampa had the ball again and Martinez led a 14 play, 90 yard drive that ended with a 4 yard TD pass to Wm Jones. The 2 point try failed but the Bandits had the lead with less than 2 minutes to play. Jones would lead the VooDoo into long FG range but the 50 yard try was wide right. Tampa Bay got the ball back with 0:40 left yet decided to pass and paid the price with an interception. One pass play later and New Orleans called timeout so they could try a 55/56 yard game winning kick but Jacob Owens was flagged for a false start and the VooDoo offense came back on the field for the final play. Jones threw an interception and the Bandits escape with the win.
Stars 16 Breakers 14
Jon Snow threw interceptions on Baltimore's first 2 drives before finding John Warkentin for a 55 yard TD on the third drive to give the Stars a 7-0 lead. Boston quickly tied it on a Ralph Harris 75 yard TD run before the defenses took over. Baltimore would get 2 FGs in the 2nd qtr and 1 in the 3rd for a 16-7 lead while the Breakers offense was stuck in neutral. Boston CB Edward Baker got the Breakers within 2 after returning an INT 21 yards for a TD in the middle of the 3rd. That was it for the scoring however as Baltimore does just enough in between Snow INTs to get a narrow win over Boston. William Halford ran for exactly 100 yards for the Stars, John Warkentin had 136 yards and the TD while TE Michael Holt caught 14 balls today.
Wheels 13 Blitz 7
Detroit started the scoring with a 1st qtr FG, then Ronald Brown found Ian Gordon with a 21 yard TD pass to give Chicago a 7-3 lead. The Blitz offense then struggled to move the ball until the 4th quarter. Detroit would get a FG in the 2nd qtr to trim the deficit to 1 at the half. The Wheels got the ball to start the 3rd and Gabriel Flanagan drove them 75 yards in 8 plays, finding Matthew Houston for a 5 yard TD. Chicago gained 111 of their 212 yards in the 4th but those 3 drives ended with a punt, turnover on downs, and the clock ran out, allowing Detroit to hang on for the division win.
Generals 41 Steamer 19
Shreveport scored the first 3 times they had the ball, but all 3 scores were FGs and the Steamer led 9-7 after a quarter. Don Ferguson then led New Jersey to 17 unanswered points for a 24-9 lead before a George Marcil TD pass cut the lead to 24-16 at the half. The Generals went on another 17 point run in the second half to put the game away. Ferguson completed 27/50, 331 yards, 4 TD and 1 INT. WR Duncan Meyer was the leading receiver, catching 3 for 115 yards and 2 TDs. RB Kurt Cobain caught the other 2 passing TDs and added a rushing TD for a 108 yard, 3 TD day. Cobain ended up rushing for 93 yards while fellow RB David Koresh ran for 95, adding 81 receiving yards to lead New Jersey in yardage today.
Hornets 12 Gold 10
Charlotte benched QB Robert Ament for this game, opting for Jeremy McDonald, and while it didn't translate to more points and yards, it did lead to victory. The Hornets defense stung the Gold, holding them to 269 yards and forcing 2 lost fumbles. After 3 quarters of play, Charlotte led just 6-3, and they would add 3 with 5:51 to play. On the next offensive snap, Andrew Brewer found Douglas Crowley with a 75 yard catch and run TD and the XP gave Denver a 10-9 lead. McDonald and the Charlotte offense took the field just inside the 2 minute warning following a punt that had the Hornets pinned at their 6 yard line. McDonald completed 4/6 on the drive to get the Hornets to the edge of Javier Gill's range, and Gill put the ball through the uprights on a 55 yard FG as time expired to give Charlotte their first win of the season.
Outlaws 26 Sun 20
There are a lot of adjectives I could use to describe this game, but smooth and mistake free aren't among them. Not to say this wasn't an exciting, back and forth game...it was, it just wasn't smooth. Both teams sometimes struggle on offense but they each had over 300 yards today, however the struggles were Southern California turned it over 3 times while Oklahoma was 0/4 in the red zone with 4 FGs. Southern California scored first on a Mark Littlejohn 4 yard TD run with Oklahoma's Douglas Arnold tying the game shortly after with a 56 yard run. The teams exchanged FGs before John Crisp found Craig Icenhour with a 21 yard TD pass and a 17-10 lead. The Sun got a FG just before the half expired and they trailed 17-13 at the break. Gary Wiggins gave the Sun the lead with a 44 yard pass to Michael Johnson before the turnovers started. When they did, the Outlaws added FGs, first tying the game at 20, then taking the lead by 3, then extending it in the final minute to earn their first victory of the season.
Invaders 15 Thunderbolts 7
Barring an OT tie, one of these 0-3 teams was getting their first win today and this game was also anything but smooth. Cleveland QB Tony Romo threw INTs on the Thunderbolts first 2 drives, leading to a pair of Lawrence Linville FGs and a 6-0 Oakland lead. Oakland then fumbled but nothing came of it for the Cleveland offense, although later in the 2nd, Romo did capitalize after Andrew Moreno threw an INT. Romo had a 32 yard TD pass to Shane Looney for a short lived 7-6 lead, as the Invaders added a FG before the half to take a 9-7 halftime lead. Moreno led Oakland to FGs on the first 2 drives of the second half and the Invaders defense made that stand up for their first victory.
(NY) Stars 38 Maulers 0
This game was all New York as the Stars shut out Pittsburgh, holding the Maulers to 248 total yards, 0/12 on 3rd down and intercepting Will Allison 3 times. Offensively, New York's triplets got the job done again. QB Damien Oleary completed 29/33, 398 yards, 5 TDs and 0 INT, with Albert Olson the leading receiver, catching 7 for 170 yards and a TD. RB William Hall had a double triple, or double hundo game, whichever you prefer. Hall ran for 112 yards on 17 carries, adding 5 catches for 129 yards and 2 TDs.
Express 33 Force 13
The first half went back and forth and the game was tied at 13 following Milton People's 2nd TD pass of the first half (the XP was missed after the 1st TD), but the Force would only get 66 yards the rest of the game. It took a couple of drives for the Express offense to get going, but once they did, they controlled the game from the middle of the 2nd quarter to the middle of the 4th. Los Angeles got a David Tavarez TD pass in the final minute of the first half to break the tie, then the Express won the second half 13-0 to win going away. Los Angeles had 166 team rushing yards and Juan Nichols scored twice on the ground.
Blazers 21 Bulls 6
Both teams played this close to the vest, opting mostly for runs and short passes. Florida's Sidney Maggard completed 19/22 for 167 yards and a TD while Derek Joyce completed 26/37 for 158 yards. Florida ran the ball twice as much as Jacksonville for 3 times as many yards, although the Bulls ran decent. Jacksonville ran 16 times for 51 yards while the Blazers ran 34 times for 158. Each team converted 3/13 on 3rd down while Jacksonville lost a pair of fumbles. The teams also alternated FGs in the first half until Florida got greedy and kicked 2 in a row. The Blazers started first, going up 3-0, 6-3, and 9-6 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, Jacksonville had chances to keep the alternating scoring going, but the offense stopped moving the ball and Florida went up 12-6 with yet another FG before Maggard's TD pass made the score 18-6. That TD came in the 4th so they went for 2 and failed, though it did not matter with how the Blazers defense was playing.
